I’ve been quiet over the holidays. Trying to keep up with work, holidays and life in general has been overwhelming. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was very nice, the kids had a great time that’s what really matters when it’s all said and done.

Just because things have been quiet on the blog-front doesn’t mean it’s been quiet around here. We’ve been working with some great companies on their new WordPress sites, mobile sites as well as trying out and gifting some awesome eco-friendly products. I wanted to take a minute to send out a big “thank you” to some great companies and let you know about some companies we’ll be featuring in the coming weeks.

First a HUGE Thank you to Kristin at the The GrapeSeed Company! Every year I work with a great green company to bring family, friends and clients a little eco-goodness. This year I teamed up with The Grapeseed Company, they offer premium eco-friendly vinotherapy spa & skin care for professional and personal use. Their line of bath & body treats are centered on the byproduct of wine in their new hometown, Santa Barbara, California. I was so giddy to send out mojito man shaving sets and shower sets to the special people in my personal and work life. I hope everyone loves The GrapeSeed Company as much as I have and if you haven’t tried their products before be sure to check them out!  Thank you Kristen!

Some more BIG thanks going out to some guys and gals I have gotten to team up with the past few months on projects and love working with them so much I want to share them with you!

Kendra Cote – Owner of Amathia Soaps, Kenna makes another awesome line of bath & body products which look and smell amazing and also found their way into many stockings this holiday! We first teamed up to launch her new website design which will be live very soon. Yet, as we worked together and chatted way too much on skype, I discovered she has a mad love for WordPress, too. We have been working on a few projects since and I can’t express how much I appreciate her! I know her true love is Amathia, but I hope we can continue to work on projects together when she isn’t knee deep in her suds. Thank you so much for all your help lately, Kenna!

Another Thank You going out to Applied Info-Systems. Applied Info-Systems pulled off a great mobile site design for a client in a crunch. Although EOG offers plug in set up for mobile versions of WP sites, this situation wasn’t going to allow for a quick and simple set up. Robert was able to create what the client needed, on the heels of the holidays and he did a great job! If you need to get your website mobile visit Applied Info-Systems for your mobile package solutions!

Tammy at Moonwell Designs has also been an awesome partnership for recent projects. I have teamed up with Moonwell Designs to offer logo design, ebook creation and much more. Her design skills are amazing and I’m so happy to have her to turn to for project needs. Thank you Tammy for all your help the past few months! Contact EOG for your design service needs – Tammy’s skills are sure to deliver!

Again a huge thanks to everyone for all of your help this year!

We have also been trying out some goodies from Shaklee, Naked Binder, Influenster & Fearless Chocolate we’ll let you know what we think of them soon!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays & Happy 2012 from Eco-Office Gals and the Smith Family!

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A Post Holiday Thank You!

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Save Huge on Eco-Office Gals Services!

More and more small businesses appear to be placing a greater emphasis on taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint by implementing a series of significant changes, ranging from teleconferencing to cycle-to-work schemes.

What’s more, some of the changes can also saves companies money and improve productivity and morale among the work force.

What are these changes? Here are a few suggestions:

Conference calls

Teleconferencing is cheap, easy to use, convenient and some conference call providers even offer free conference calls. No longer do employees have to spend hours travelling either by air, rail or road to attend meetings that can be just as effectively carried out over the phone or via a video conference or webinar. As well as cost and environmental benefits, teleconferencing also means staff spend less time away from their desk.

Work remotely

Allowing staff to work from home either once or twice or week or on a more long-term basis means a company’s workforce aren’t commuting to and from the office. With the cost of office space and rent a financial burden, this method can free up funds that could instead be pumped back into the business. And, as an added bonus, having a ‘work at home Wednesday’ or whatever you want to call it may even improve productivity and morale from the staff as they feel more trusted.

Promote carpooling

Encourage the workforce to lift share to and from work and to any other events they may be attending together. Perhaps try and incentivise the scheme with small cash bonuses or free breakfasts or something like that just to help it get up and running.

Recycle in the workplace

Starting recycling and reusing whatever you can if you don’t already at work. Become a more responsible business by reducing wastage and recycling everything from packaging to computer components.

Turn down the central heating/air conditioning

You’d be amazed at what a difference turning down the central heating unit or air conditioning by a few degrees can have in terms of reducing utility bills and the amount of energy used to keep the office warm in the winter months and cool in summer. Also remember to turn off the heating unit or air con completely when the office is not in use as well as all electrical appliances and lights.

Introduce a cycle-to-work scheme

Look into the possibility of implementing a cycle-to-work scheme in the same way that you should promote carpooling among staff. In countries like the UK, these schemes involve allowing workers to buy tax-free bikes for up to 40% less than they retail for. If similar schemes are not applicable to your area then maybe offer money-off vouchers to encourage people to cycle to work.

Featured post submitted by Powwownow

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Reduce the carbon footprint of your small business

It should not take a large outlay of money in order to take your business from consuming more energy to one that is eco-friendly. As a matter of fact, once you have worked out all the details, you can actually raise your businesses profit margins. Just by adopting small, simple measures, any size organization can help their business to go “Green.”

• Reduce paper use: Let everyone in your organization know that they should not be photocopying or printing documents when it is unnecessary to do so. When you are going to be printing, eliminate waste by ensuring that paper is properly aligned, toner is sufficient for the job, and the quality is properly set.
• Reuse paper: Print on both sides of paper, and use scraps for notes and messages.
• Send used paper to recyclers: After paper has been used as scratch pads and on both sides, send it to be recycled. This will help to save the environment as well as reduce costs.
• Use paper that is recycled.
• Buy refurbished furniture: By purchasing used office furniture you will be reusing resources rather than contributing the depletion of our woodland.
• When finished using equipment, switch it off: For instance, each time you turn your PC off, also turn off any peripheral equipment that is attached to it.
• Set up recycle bins: Since you are going to be going “green” it is time to set up waste receptacles for separating the different type of waste that is generated. This can be done for glass, plastic, metal, as well as paper. Assign someone to take them to the local recycling unit when they are full.
• Switch to energy efficient products when possible: Replace incandescent and fluorescent lights with the newer high efficiency lights to save on lighting costs. Since laptops consume less energy when compared to ordinary desktop models, consider switching to laptops when it is time to upgrade your computer. Replacing CRTs with flat panel displays in another measure that you can use to reduce the amount of energy you use as well as take up less space on your desk.
• Use green technology based products: Manufacturers that use less energy in the production of their products should be sought out as you attempt to go “green.” There are any number of different companies that are doing everything they can to reduce the impact they are having on the environment.
• Remember to conserve and recycle water as you can: This can be done by setting up drinking stations that allow the use of a reusable cup rather than a paper one, and do not rely on running water as a fountain would. Place a filled container in toilet tanks to prevent overuse of water, or switch to low flow tanks.
• Use eco-friendly and bio-degradable packaging: When packaging your products for sale, make sure that you are using materials that will degrade when tossed into landfills, and use less packaging that is sure to reduce the amount of waste that is produced from your business.

Guest post written by Mirsad Hasic of Alternative Energy Geek.

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10 Simple Steps To Make Your Business More Green

Dear EarthTalk: What is the environmental impact of so many people now using sites like Facebook and spending so much time online?
– Bob Yearling, Paris, TX

The environmental impact of so much online time really boils down to energy usage, which in turn affects the amount of greenhouse gases we pump into our atmosphere. For one, each of us can help by limiting computer time (whether surfing the ‘net or not) and shutting them down or putting them into sleep mode when we aren’t using them (this can be automated via the computer’s power management control panel).

Also, when shopping for a new computer, consumers and businesses alike can opt for models certified by the federal government as energy efficient with the Energy Star label. If all computers sold in the U.S. met Energy Star requirements, Americans could pocket $1.8 billion annually in saved energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equivalent to taking some two million cars off the road.

Individual responsibility aside, the creation and management of more efficient data centers by the major online hubs—especially as we enter the age of “cloud” computing whereby most of the software, content and services we look to our computers for resides online and is served to us as-needed—is what can have the biggest impact. Google, Facebook, and Amazon.com are already deeply committed to the cloud computing model, with Microsoft, Yahoo and others following suit accordingly.

For its part, Google has been a real leader in the building of green data centers, even powering them with renewable energy. The company recently released environmental footprint scores for several of its data centers. While the energy usage required to run its cloud services (Google Search, Google+, Gmail and YouTube) seems huge in the aggregate—it used 260 megawatt hours to power its data centers in 2010—it boils down to only 7.4 kilowatt hours worth of energy annually per user. Google reports that to provide an individual user with its services for a month uses less energy than leaving a light bulb on for three hours. And because the company has been carbon neutral since 2007, “even that small amount of energy is offset completely, so the carbon footprint of your life on Google is zero.”

In an April 2011 report entitled “How Dirty is your Data?” the non-profit Greenpeace examined energy sources for the 10 largest IT companies involved in cloud computing, finding Apple, Facebook and IBM especially guilty of getting significant amounts of power from coal-fired power plants. (Facebook had come under fire earlier this year when reporters uncovered that the company planned to buy electricity for its brand new eco-friendly data center in Prineville, Oregon—one of the greenest such facilities ever designed and constructed—from a utility that derives most of its power from coal.) Yahoo, Amazon.com and Microsoft scored best in use of renewable alternative energy sources for cloud services.

In the long run, analysts think that the widespread shift to cloud computing will be a great boon to the environment. A report released in September 2011 by Pike Research, “Cloud Computing Energy Efficiency,” predicts that because of the shift to cloud computing and increasing efficiencies, data center power consumption will decrease by 31 percent between 2010 and 2020.

CONTACTS: Energy Star, www.energystar.gov; Greenpeace, www.greenpeace.org; Pike Research, www.pikeresearch.com.

EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E – The Environmental Magazine. Send questions to: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Subscribe or get a Free Trial Issue

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EarthTalk: Impact of Spending Time Online

Many people are beginning to practice eco-friendliness within their home and working lives which is a positive step in the bid to reduce carbon emissions, however one of the largest contributors of carbon emissions haven’t quite been tackled – transport. The commute to and from work is significantly affecting climate change. Traffic congestion means journey times are longer than usual
in rush hour, resulting in more fuel consumption and consequently more carbon emissions which are proven to contribute to global warming and have effects on human health. Using alternative methods to travel to work can greatly reduce carbon emissions, travel expenses and even commute time.

Traditional Tactics

If you live within a reasonable distance you are blessed with the ability to leave your car at home and save abundances on fuel. Walking or cycling to work can be enjoyable in the summertime and great exercise, particularly for office workers who are generally seated for the duration of the day. Although you may not want to leave your car at home every day, if the weather looks sunny and you have a burst of energy why not choose to walk? With fuel prices constantly rocketing, choosing to walk or cycle can be incredibly attractive due to the money saving aspects.

Car Sharing

If you live a greater distance, walking or cycling may not be a practical option of getting to work. Rather than jumping straight behind the wheel, ask colleagues in the office to see if anyone lives nearby and ask if they want to start car sharing. If you and a colleague share a car to work you could half your fuel costs, mileage and carbon emissions. Alternating days of who drives can also reduce the stresses of driving each morning.

Public Transport

If no one from the office lives within your area you could consider public transport as an option. Initially this may sound unattractive, but often urban areas have convenient transport links. Considering monthly passes can also save you some money on public transport, in some cases it may actually be cheaper than the costs of running a car and far less stressful. Using public transport minimizesthe number of cars on the roads, reducing congestion and carbon emissions.

Green Cars

Hybrid cars are becoming increasingly popular due to their financial and environmental benefits. They combine clean electrical energy with a gas powered engine, making them a cleaner and more fuel efficient method of transport. Their fuel consumption is lower than that of an average car, saving you money on fuel.

Work from Home

Although working from home isn’t always possible, if you live quite a distance from your work you could ask your manager if working from home a few days a week would be acceptable. This could save you significant amounts of money and drastically reduce your carbon emissions. It could also benefit your company money and productivity too if you offered to work the hours which you would usually spend commuting.

Eco-friendliness isn’t only saving the environment, it’s also saving many office workers money. It’s proven that greener alternatives to transport are cost effective. So why not leave the car on the drive for a well deserved rest?

Written by Stephanie Staszko on behalf of Just Motor Law.

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5 Green Ways to Travel to Work

The greenest printing is no printing at all, but sometimes you have to have a business card or brochure to give to potential clients. So, if you must print, print green! Printing for Less has covered a wide scope of green printing practices from FSC certified paper, vegetable based inks, wind-powered facilities and more. I have always highly recommended them to my clients.

This month PFL is offering new customers $100 off their first order of $300 with coupon code Affiliate100 (exp 10-1-2011). Visit PrintingForLess to take advantage of these huge savings! If you have a smaller order and don’t meet the $300 balance, no problem. Use my referral code for $50 off your first order of any amount. Use code RP1D6SEJM at checkout, there is no expiration.

These savings are huge and my clients have always been very impressed with the final product. So, print green & save green on your next printing project!

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Green Printing $100 OFF for September

Businesses can be notorious for bad waste management procedures and plastic disposal by employees is usually at the top of the list.

Used and tossed in the garbage without a thought many of us should be thinking more clearly about our relationship to the synthetic material, which takes hundreds maybe thousands of years to degrade.

In most cases plastic is made from petroleum and natural gas often inundated with a variety of chemicals that aid its strength and durability. Unfortunately, there is great financial burden and difficulty in recycling and reprocessing plastic yet every day more is produced.

The result is that much of the world’s plastic is trashed and sent to landfills where it sits and as plastic ages particles and residue pollute both land and sea contributing negatively to our health and environment.

However, despite the predicament we are in it’s important to remember that the little things we do can still make a difference. When it comes to the office setting this is especially true:

• Plastic cups: Think about how many times a day you walk over to the water machine, fill a cup with water, drink it, throw it in the garbage for the cleaning company to take away and then do the same thing an hour later. Get a mug or some type of glass you can wash and reuse often.
• Plastic utensils and plates: Like cups these are just waiting by the office kitchenette to be taken one after the other. Bring in a reusable fork, knife, spoon and dish and enjoy breakfast, lunch, or diner plastic free.
• Plastic trash bags: The company should use as few as possible and instead focus on limiting the actual amount of trash by setting up a recycling system which divides up plastic, glass, paper, and other materials just like you would at home.
• Plastic water bottles: In order to replace the culture of buying water in bottles and consuming all that plastic the company should give its employees reusable water bottles. Having one of their own may change perceptions and attitudes about plastic usage and encourage the use of tap water whenever possible. Even where tap water is an issue a simple filter usually does the job.
• Use & Reuse Plastic: If you are ever stuck in a situation where plastic is the only option then use and reuse. Also, realize not all plastic is taboo and if you come across durable plastic cutlery or tableware it’s worth purchasing and using over and over. The most important thing to check is how it was manufactured because as was mentioned before most plastic contains chemicals and studies have shown they have the ability to leach into food and other substances they are containing.
• Go biodegradable: Didn’t know? Some manufacturers are making more eco-friendly plastic products that are actually biodegrade. It’s best to try and avoid these too but when necessary they are the best choice.

Jakob Barry writes for Networx.com. He covers various eco-friendly home improvement topics including commercial cleaning companies and window cleaning services.

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Making Office Plastic Use a Thing of the Past

In today’s society, running a business that is both economically intelligent and environmentally intelligent is important. With so much of our focus on making a profit in the turbulent economic climate today, cutting back on our wastefulness can be a great start to cutting unnecessary costs. Numerous articles online will explain the importance of reducing paper waste, turning off computers and electronics, and working in an eco-friendly office structure. Each of these things is endlessly important for a profitable business and for our own social responsibility as inhabitants of this planet. However, on top of the basic practices of reduced use and reduced waste, try these three green practices to better your employees work environment and boost company morale.

Add Plants to Your Office
While this may sound trite, adding plants to your office environment will help make your business more environmentally conscious. With a list of benefits, plants help reduce toxins in the air, increase the air flow in a room, and help reduce eye irritations employees might encounter staring at a computer screen all day long. By improving the quality of the air in your office, plants will help your employees feel healthier and better suited for work. Furthermore, because plants help circulate air around a stuffy office
building, they can help reduce the cost of heating and cooling in the office. Most of all, plants bring interest and inspiration to a dull and lifeless office. Place plants throughout your office, so that your employees can benefit of fresh air and a relaxing atmosphere.

Plan Green Team Building
There are several green activities that businesses can encourage to be more eco friendly and boost employee morale. Encouraging a company carpool for individuals living is close proximity to one another is a great way to reduce the carbon footprint and a great way to boost employee bonding. As a company, create a carpool schedule that works for every individual and makes sense for helping the environment. Companies can also brainstorm team trips or company outings that demonstrate environmental consciousness. Try taking an eco friendly picnic for lunch one day a month or develop plans as a team to reduce company paper and supply waste. While these small tasks may sound more like chores, there are plenty of ways to make each exercise an enjoyable experience where employees to interact with one another at a less professional level. High employee morale is essential to a successful and profitable business.

Institute a Company Recycling Program
Another creative way to encourage green business while also boosting employee morale is using green practices as team building exercises. As a team building exercise, you and your employees could organize a recycling program for your office or for your entire office building. Obviously, this process could become rather involved. But, having your employees work together to design a recycling plan for the office can be a great ice breaker for new employees and a wonderful way for individuals to work together on a non work related project. While bonding with one another and learning more each other, you and your employees can help reduce the amount of waste you create and throw away in your office.

This is a guest post from Carol Wilson who writes for business insurance quotes. She contributes articles about a variety of marketing, business, stock market, small business topics. She can be contacted at: wilson.carol24 @ gmail.com.

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Creating a Green Work Environment That Will Boost Office Morale

As concerns over climate change and our impact on the environment increases, there has never been a better time to start going green. Many businesses still believe that going green is too expensive or time-consuming, with the current economic climate adding to the notion that reduction of waste is not a priority. However, there are many simple ways a business can reduce their impact on the environment and it doesn’t necessarily have to involve drastic or expensive changes. By investing in changes now not only can it improve the profile and reputation of your business it could potentially save money through proposed tax cuts and reduced wastage.

Some of the easiest ways of being energy efficient are making sure lights, air conditioning and computer monitors are turned off when not in use, using motion censored lighting wherever possible. Surprisingly, the need for air conditioning and central heating can be reduced significantly by choosing the right blinds for your office windows. By opting for insulating honeycomb or cellular blinds rather than the standard vertical or roller blinds you can drastically reduce heat loss, keeping the office both warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Ask your waste disposal suppliers about recycling options as you may be able to recycle anything from paper and exhibition display materials such as banner stands to broken computer equipment and hazardous waste. Consider changing to suppliers that are dedicated to reducing their carbon foot-print, as there are many companies offering environmentally friendly products and services ensuring that your supplies do not contribute to damage caused by other businesses. Although recycling is an excellent way to improving your company’s green credentials, the best way (and most cost effective) is to avoid unnecessary waste in the first place. One of the easiest ways of doing this is reducing paperwork and print-outs. If possible print on both sides of the paper, send memos via email and store documents digitally. Keep any unwanted non-confidential print-outs for use as scrap paper and use recycled paper when possible, not only will you produce less waste, but help minimize those costly stationary orders.

There are many ways you can take charge of waste management, but as with any change it is most effective when everyone involved is equally committed. Many businesses offer incentives for employees to car share and use public transport, why not make it a team effort by getting your staff on board? Provide all necessary facilities for staff to heat, prepare and enjoy their lunch on-site to avoid the need to drive to local restaurants and cafes. Either provide mugs and cups or encourage staff to bring their own, reducing the need for wasteful paper and plastic coffee cups. By getting everyone involved you’ll not only boost team moral, but make the smaller changes more effective in reducing your business’s impact on the environment.

Liberty-Belle Howard is a UK blogger with a keen interest in green issues. She is currently writing on behalf of Marler Haley.

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Go Green And Minimize Business Waste